Favre extending streak through mediocre season

CHICAGO - Brett Favre will extend his NFL record for consecutive starts by a quarterback to 186 on Sunday when the Green Bay Packers face the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field.

He will extend his streak of games played by a quarterback with a somewhat broken thumb to six.

For 12 years, Favre has been getting hurt and getting back up to win games for the Packers.

It's an old story the Bears are getting a bit tired of seeing, hearing and experiencing. Injuries don't seem to mean much to Favre. Even this year, the Packers have gone 3-3 with a healthy Favre and 3-3 with an injured Favre.

''My experience with Brett is that it affects him more positively because he focuses better and overcomes it and plays better,'' Packers offensive coordinator Tom Rossley said after Favre suffered his latest injury on his second pass of a loss at St. Louis on Oct. 19.

This year, Favre isn't putting up numbers that rival his three MVP seasons (1995-97), when he threw 112 touchdown passes and only 42 interceptions.

This season he threw 11 touchdown passes and eight interceptions before the injury, 11 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions since.

The Packers are depending on Favre less and Ahman Green more as the season wears on, but nobody will underestimate him.

As he has proved again since he lead the Packers past the Bears in the Soldier Field reopener Sept. 29, Favre can play injured like few others.

''He knows where people are and how to get the ball out quickly. You don't see him take a lot of shots. If he's supposed to be protected (by the blocking scheme), he knows. And if he's not protected, he knows and he gets the ball out of his hand very quickly.''

Favre turned 34 on Oct. 10, and the Bears may have seen the best of him. But they haven't seen the last of him.

Favre's combination of durability and excellence has become legendary. Since he became the Packers' starter in 1992, the Bears have gone through 15 starting quarterbacks, the most in the league.

The Bears drafted Rex Grossman in the first round this year to put an end to that kind of instability, and Grossman has noted a few things about Favre, including the importance of being there every Sunday.

''He's a tough guy,'' Grossman said. ''I'm sure he has been hurt enough not to play. It's partly luck, partly his being tough, partly being in the right situation at the right time.

''He throws off balance and when you do that you go down pretty easy. He's not taking hard hits.''

Indeed, Favre seems to do everything a quarterback isn't supposed to do except throw underhand.

''He breaks a lot of rules,'' Bears offensive coordinator John Shoop said. ''Sometimes young guys want to emulate him but, hey, there's only one Brett Favre.

''His mechanics ... sometimes you scratch your head.''

Favre is a highlight-film regular. He doesn't expect to show up on many training tapes.

''I would not tell any young quarterbacks to emulate the way I throw or the way I play,'' Favre said. ''To say I'm a dying breed is incorrect because I don't think anyone has thrown like me and I'm not tooting my horn. My mechanics are the worst you've ever seen. You can't argue with production and to me that's the bottom line.''

''He knows where people are and how to get the ball out quickly. You don't see him take a lot of shots. If he's supposed to be protected (by the blocking scheme), he knows. And if he's not protected, he knows and he gets the ball out of his hand very quickly.''

Favre turned 34 on Oct. 10, and the Bears may have seen the best of him. But they haven't seen the last of him.